Chapter 379 - 245: Sudden Wealth (2)

Chapter 379: Chapter 245: Sudden Wealth (2)

The portable space was so large that it wasn’t worth the effort to separate the ore on the spot. He was better off using the time to stuff more rocks inside. After leaving the Golden Stone Gang Realm, he would have all the time in the world to sort through them.

A small space would require one to be meticulous, but there was no need to be stingy with what was essentially a cubic-kilometer warehouse.

Day and night, Yu Fei set an alarm on his personal terminal and entered a full-on mining frenzy.

He was like a giant comb, releasing his Sword Qi to sense and collect his targets.

He continued this mechanical process, drinking a tonic when thirsty and eating on the move when hungry. He didn’t stop until his alarm rang, at which point he groggily rose to his feet.

It was now the sixth day since he had entered the realm.

Yu Fei’s consciousness swept through his portable space. The vast, spherical dimension now had a small layer covering the bottom. A deep sense of satisfaction washed over him.

’The space’s capacity is insane after the upgrade. If I filled it completely, I could probably fit an entire mountain inside.’

’Still, these are just raw ores with their husks and waste rock. Breaking them down will mean losing a fair bit of volume.’

’Even so, the amount of transcendent jade remaining would be substantial. Even low-grade jade is valued by the pound, and how much did all this weigh?’

It was impossible to estimate offhand.

He had a feeling that he wouldn’t be lacking cultivation resources for a long time to come.

Yu Fei looked down at his filthy clothes, cleaned himself up a little, and changed into a dark gray Kexin company uniform. He took out his employee ID badge and headed for Factory Number Three.

One must know when to be content. Having used his spatial ability to plunder immense resources from the Golden Stone Gang Realm, he knew it was more important than ever to keep a low profile.

Activating his Illusory Sword Intent, Yu Fei moved stealthily, his mind racing. ’Zhang Wenji’s importance is continuing to rise.’

’The Bright Jade Alliance obviously guards its interests jealously. They can afford to have an eighth-realm Grandmaster stationed at the entrance to monitor everyone. Even I can’t sneak past that with my Illusory Sword Intent, so I have to use a legitimate excuse to get in and out.’

’And when it comes to resources, their leadership must have fought hard for it. The Bright Jade Alliance only gives a portion of the profits to the Seven Greats, which means their own power is not to be underestimated.’

’I need to be even more careful and just lay low while I get stronger.’

He retrieved his parked vehicle without any issues. Along the way, he stopped at a simple nearby motel to take a shower. Completely refreshed and having removed any lingering traces of his activities, he finally headed toward the Cross-Border Black Fog.

The security check on the way out was even more stringent. The longsword he carried as a prop was scanned and probed repeatedly, and he had to pass through numerous detectors himself.

There were metal detectors, long- and short-wave scanners... you name it. One device even required Martial Artists to completely drop their Inner Qi defenses. It could produce a clear scan of a Martial Artist’s internal structure. Yu Fei studied it for a moment, thinking it looked a lot like an X-ray machine.

The security was far stricter than Yu Fei had imagined, all to prevent smuggling.

Carrying only a simple longsword and not even a pack, Yu Fei naturally wasn’t a primary target for inspection.

He watched the crowd queuing to leave. Their eyes were filled with anticipation; they all seemed desperate to get out.

As he was waiting, someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey buddy, you with Kexin?"

Yu Fei turned to see a skinny man in his thirties. His aura placed him somewhere around the third realm.

"I am."

"I’ve seen a lot of your company’s equipment. Are you stationed here, or just visiting on business?"

The man seemed bored with the wait and was looking to make small talk.

"On business."

The man eyed Yu Fei’s Kexin uniform with a hint of envy.

"The pay at your company must be pretty high, huh?"

Not wanting to elaborate, Yu Fei gave a vague reply, "It’s okay."

"I really envy you tech guys. I work my butt off for a month and don’t even make ten thousand merit points. I heard your per diem is three thousand a day. Is that true?"

The skinny man’s interest was piqued, and he kept prying about Yu Fei’s income.

Left with no other choice, Yu Fei’s attitude turned cold.

"It’s confidential."

The skinny man looked annoyed.

"What’s there to keep secret? Pay confidentiality is just a stupid policy. Everybody knows what everyone else makes anyway. We might not know about the ones with connections or the bosses’ pets, but what’s the big secret about how much feed the workhorses are getting?"

"Around here, the best pay goes to the master prospectors, then the poor grunts who work the mines. Too bad both jobs have special requirements for your Cultivation Technique. One needs a detection-type Secret Technique, and the other requires a certain level of Body Refining..."

The floodgates had opened, and the man launched into an endless stream of complaints.

After graduating from a Martial University, he didn’t have the guts to risk his life on the battlefield, nor did he possess any marketable skills.

So he ended up here, working in a factory in the Golden Stone Gang Realm, just to earn a meager wage.

His words were filled with complaints about the factory, and it seemed to strike a chord. More and more people nearby joined the conversation.

It was only then that Yu Fei learned these factories operated on a piece-rate system, forcing respectable Martial Artists to toil like beasts of burden every single day.

He observed that they all shared a common trait: they had achieved a certain realm but lacked any specialized martial arts or abilities. They relied solely on the enhanced reflexes and physique their realm provided to do manual labor for pay.

Consequently, their wages were pitifully low. Based on their chatter, Yu Fei did a rough mental calculation of their output value. The cost of their labor was likely less than one-thousandth of the final product’s worth.

’By that measure,’ he thought, ’the Bright Jade Alliance, the masters of the Golden Stone Gang Realm, must be absolutely rolling in money.’

’Logically, the crisis in the borderlands is a crisis for all of humanity. A resource-rich place like the Golden Stone Gang Realm should be under unified jurisdiction.’

’But then he recalled what Ye Shuping had said: humanity’s leadership is completely fractured. There are plenty of Martial Saints, but their conflicting ideologies make it impossible to form a unified front.’

’This inevitably leads to an unfair distribution of resources. Those who come later are unable to get a share of the benefits, so of course they band together. This gives rise to all sorts of secret organizations, which is one of the root causes of all the chaos.’

’But in the world of martial arts, ultimate power lies with the individual. To unite everyone, one would need the strength to suppress all dissent. The Prodigy Project has been running for centuries, yet it has only made the situation more chaotic, failing to produce a single figure who could break the stalemate.’

These thoughts flashed through his mind, but Yu Fei wasn’t particularly interested in any of it.

’If he truly possessed power that surpassed all others, he would rather explore the secrets of the borderlands and the forces behind the various alien races. If he could break through the blockade of the borderlands, perhaps he could see a much vaster world.’

’Establishing a fair and just world would require absolute power to suppress everything—and even then, it would be difficult to maintain. Trying to build a utopia based on moral rules and constraints is completely unrealistic.’

Seeing the crowd growing, Yu Fei quietly slipped away.

Right now, he just wanted to get out of here without any unnecessary complications.

Fortunately, Yu Fei’s papers were all in order, and no one would ever suspect someone of having a game-breaking ability like a portable space. He passed through the Cross-Border Black Fog without a hitch.

After he got out, he sent a message to Zhang Wenji. Yu Fei treated him to a meal, during which Zhang Wenji never once asked what he had done inside, instead steering the conversation toward his daughter, Zhang Yuan.

Yu Fei didn’t mind. After the dinner, he spent three days at the Zhang Family’s estate, offering Zhang Yuan further guidance on her martial arts.

The girl had good comprehension but no special physical aptitude, which seemed to please Zhang Wenji even more. He thumped his chest and declared that Yu Fei should come to him anytime he needed anything in the future. Yu Fei readily agreed, remarking only that the scenery in the Golden Stone Gang Realm was nice and that they should stay in touch.

"Yuan’er, what’s your impression of Yu Fei?"

After Yu Fei left, Zhang Wenji began chatting with his daughter, their conversation revolving entirely around their guest.

Zhang Yuan looked timid.

"Dad, Yu Fei is just too strong! I’m only one realm below him, but I can’t even withstand a single casual burst of his Sword Qi."

Zhang Wenji nodded.

"The man is incredible. A while back, the Security Bureau clashed with the Night Owl Mansion. I heard he killed no fewer than a hundred enemies, all of them at the Inner Qi level or higher. He even killed quite a few in the Gang Qi Realm..."

At this, Zhang Wenji’s expression grew complicated.

"We must stay on good terms with a man like that. We don’t need to become intimate friends, but we need to at least be on speaking terms. Since you’ve decided to apply to Shenhan, you should ask for his guidance more often. In the future, it would be best if you could join a team he puts together."

Zhang Yuan suddenly grabbed her father’s arm, whining playfully.

"Dad, I’m not so bad myself! Maybe I’ll be even stronger than Yu Fei one day!"

Zhang Wenji burst out laughing.

"Of course! My Yuan’er is a peerless prodigy! Your ascension to Martial Saint is just around the corner!"